Born in
Kingston, Jamaica, Clive Thompson began his dance career in high school
when he joined Ivy Baxter's Dance Company, Jamaica's first modern dance
troupe. Thompson studied traditional West Indian and modern dance with
Baxter, ballet at the Soohih School of Classical Dance, and participated
in master classes with guest teachers Lavinia Williams, Neville Black, and
Anna Niala at the University College of the West Indies. In 1960, he moved
to California, where he danced with Lester Horton and Jack Cole. Late that
same year, Thompson received a scholarship to study at the Martha Graham
School in New York City, and started dancing with Graham's company in
1961. He created roles in Graham's "One More Gaudy Night" (1961),
"Secular Games" (1962), and "Circe" (1963). From 1965 to 1967 he
was a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He then spent
several years as a freelance artist.

A striking-looking dancer with a graceful body, strong technique, and
dramatic abilities. Thompson was much in demand, and would frequently
perform with Yuriko (another Graham dancer) in her concerts; he also
performed with John Butler, Pearl Lang, Talley Beatty, and Geoffrey
Holder. Thompson rejoined Ailey's company in 1970; capitalizing on
Thompson's balletic abilities, Ailey choreographed roles for him in
"Myth" (1971), "The Lark Ascending" (1972), and "Hidden
Rites" (1973). Thompson was a leading dancer in the company for many
years, leaving it in the mid-1980s. He returned to live in Jamaica where
he intermittently taught and worked with the National Dance Theater of
Jamaica.